Dynamic file generation system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for receiving a request for forecasting data to use for new product introduction, the request comprising an indication of a plurality of existing products and accessing data for a plurality of existing curves corresponding to the plurality of existing products. The systems and methods further provide for, based on determining that at least a subset of curves of the plurality of curves comprises a plurality of values, analyzing each value of the plurality of values for each curve of the subset of curves to determine a maximum number of values among all of the curves of the subset of curves, generating a text file comprising a maximum number of value columns corresponding to the maximum number of values, and populating the text file with the data for the plurality of existing curves, including the plurality of values for each curve of the subset of curves.

BACKGROUND

Demand planning aims to create a forecast for future demand of aproduct. This can be done using sophisticated statistical algorithmsthat calculate a future time series with the knowledge of past values.For new products, however, such past values, which include the number ofsold items of the product in the past, do not exist.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate exampleembodiments of the present disclosure and should not be considered aslimiting its scope.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a networked system, according tosome example embodiments.

FIG. 2 is an example sequence diagram of a process to dynamicallygenerate a comma-separated values (CSV file), according to some exampleembodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating aspects of a method for dynamic filegeneration, according to some example embodiments.

FIGS. 4-8 illustrate example user interfaces, according to some exampleembodiments.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a softwarearchitecture that may be installed on a machine, according to someexample embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine, in theform of a computer system, within which a set of instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods described herein relate to dynamic file generation.As indicated above, forecasting a future demand for a new productintroduction cannot be done using past values for the new product,because there are no past values yet for the new product. For instance,a product to be introduced into the market or very recently introducedin the market does not yet have historical data. Example embodimentsallow a user to define references to existing products to use for newproducts that have no historical data. Thus, example embodiments allow auser to use planning data from existing products which are estimated tobe similar to new products and planning algorithms can generate planningdata for new products.

Example embodiments provide functionality to manage a product lifecycle.For example, phase-in and phase-out curves can be used to steer theexpected demand of a new product. To reflect a curve in the system,several data points are needed along with administrative values of acurve (e.g., start value, end value, offset, valid from, valid to, curveassignment). These attributes and data points, however, are not easy todefine by a user. For example, it would not be manually possible to gothrough historical data (such as hundreds of curves with numerousvalues) in a system for even one similar existing product. Exampleembodiments analyze historical data for existing products to dynamicallygenerate a file comprising all phase-in and phase-out curves (forexample) in the system. A user can view the generated file and make anydesired edits and then save the generated file comprising a plurality ofcurves (e.g., phase-in and/or phase-out curves) for the new product. Thegenerated file can be opened with any standard application, such as aspreadsheet application (e.g., Excel).

For example, example embodiments comprise a backend controller todetermine a maximum number of data points for all curves which arecurrently in a system for existing products in a planning area (e.g.,products that are estimated to be similar to the new product). Thedetermined maximum number of data points is used to set a maximum columnsize for a file to be generated with data for the existing products.Since many curves are flexible curves that have a varying number of datavalues, a maximum number of data points is determined to generate theappropriate number of columns to populate in the generated file. Afterthat, the controller analyzes requested fields and an individual file(e.g., CSV file) is generated. The content of the generated file isdynamically compared with requested paging (e.g., if a front-end requesthas a paging number of 500, the controller ensures that all dependenciesof the 500 values in the backend system are considered). Further, thecontent of the generated file can be enriched from additional data readfrom backend tables. Also, at this point the controller can consider alldependencies. Once the controller finishes generating and populating thefile, the file can be sent to a front-end device to be accessed anddisplayed by a user.

Example embodiments provide a file that can be easily accessed by usersto change or create new entities and upload a final file into a systemfor new product introduction. Since the file is dynamically created andcontains enriched business data, it brings a high value to a user sinceall needed data is collected and placed in one file. Moreover, exampleembodiments provide for more accurate forecasting for new products.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a networked system 100, accordingto some example embodiments. The system 100 may include one or moreclient devices such as client device 110. The client device 110 maycomprise, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer,laptop, portable digital assistants (PDA), smart phone, tablet,ultrabook, netbook, laptop, multi-processor system, microprocessor-basedor programmable consumer electronic, game console, set-top box, computerin a vehicle, or any other computing or communication device that a usermay utilize to access the networked system 100. In some embodiments, theclient device 110 may comprise a display module (not shown) to displayinformation (e.g., in the form of user interfaces). In furtherembodiments, the client device 110 may comprise one or more of touchscreens, accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, microphones, globalpositioning system (GPS) devices, and so forth. The client device 110may be a device of a user 106 that is used to access and utilize cloudservices, among other applications.

One or more users 106 may be a person, a machine, or other means ofinteracting with the client device 110. In example embodiments, the user106 may not be part of the system 100 but may interact with the system100 via the client device 110 or other means. For instance, the user 106may provide input (e.g., touch screen input or alphanumeric input) tothe client device 110 and the input may be communicated to otherentities in the system 100 (e.g., third-party servers 130, server system102, etc.) via the network 104. In this instance, the other entities inthe system 100, in response to receiving the input from the user 106,may communicate information to the client device 110 via the network 104to be presented to the user 106. In this way, the user 106 may interactwith the various entities in the system 100 using the client device 110.

The system 100 may further include a network 104. One or more portionsof network 104 may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, avirtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wirelessLAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion ofthe public switched telephone network (PSTN), a cellular telephonenetwork, a wireless network, a WiFi network, a WiMax network, anothertype of network, or a combination of two or more such networks.

The client device 110 may access the various data and applicationsprovided by other entities in the system 100 via web client 112 (e.g., abrowser, such as the Internet Explorer® browser developed by Microsoft®Corporation of Redmond, Wash. State) or one or more client applications114. The client device 110 may include one or more client applications114 (also referred to as “apps”) such as, but not limited to, a webbrowser, a search engine, a messaging application, an electronic mail(email) application, an e-commerce site application, a mapping orlocation application, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) application,a customer relationship management (CRM) application, an analyticsdesign application, a new product lifecycle or forecasting application,and the like.

In some embodiments, one or more client applications 114 may be includedin a given client device 110, and configured to locally provide the userinterface and at least some of the functionalities, with the clientapplication(s) 114 configured to communicate with other entities in thesystem 100 (e.g., third-party servers 130, server system 102, etc.), onan as-needed basis, for data and/or processing capabilities not locallyavailable (e.g., access location information, access software versioninformation, access an ERP system, access a CRM system, access ananalytics design system, access data to respond to a search query, toauthenticate a user 106, to verify a method of payment, access testdata, access to historical product data, and so forth). Conversely, oneor more applications 114 may not be included in the client device 110,and then the client device 110 may use its web browser to access the oneor more applications hosted on other entities in the system 100 (e.g.,third-party servers 130, server system 102, etc.).

A server system 102 may provide server-side functionality via thenetwork 104 (e.g., the Internet or wide area network (WAN)) to one ormore third-party servers 130 and/or one or more client devices 110. Theserver system 102 may include an application program interface (API)server 120, a web server 122, and a dynamic file generation system 124that may be communicatively coupled with one or more databases 126.

The one or more databases 126 may be storage devices that store datarelated to users of the system 100, applications associated with thesystem 100, cloud services, and so forth. The one or more databases 126may further store information related to third-party servers 130,third-party applications 132, client devices 110, client applications114, users 106, and so forth. In one example, the one or more databases126 may be cloud-based storage.

The server system 102 may be a cloud computing environment, according tosome example embodiments. The server system 102, and any serversassociated with the server system 102, may be associated with acloud-based application, in one example embodiment.

The dynamic file generation system 124 may provide back-end support forthird-party applications 132 and client applications 114, which mayinclude cloud-based applications. The dynamic file generation system 124generates dynamic files from historical product data, as described infurther detail below. The dynamic file generation system 124 maycomprise one or more servers or other computing devices or systems.

The system 100 further includes one or more third-party servers 130. Theone or more third-party servers 130 may include one or more third-partyapplication(s) 132. The one or more third-party application(s) 132,executing on third-party server(s) 130, may interact with the serversystem 102 via API server 120 via a programmatic interface provided bythe API server 120. For example, one or more the third-partyapplications 132 may request and utilize information from the serversystem 102 via the API server 120 to support one or more features orfunctions on a website hosted by the third party or an applicationhosted by the third party. The third-party website or application 132,for example, may provide access to historical product data and dynamicfile generation and corresponding functionality that is supported byrelevant functionality and data in the server system 102.

FIG. 2 is an example sequence diagram 200 of a process to dynamicallygenerate a CSV file (or similar). The diagram illustrates components andoperations on the client device 110 and the server system 102 of FIG. 1,and the interactions between the client device 110 and the server system102.

A user interface (UI) controller 202 provides functionality forgenerating graphical user interfaces (GUI) to be displayed on a displayof the client device 110, and functionality for processing inputs madeby a user via the client device 110 (e.g., data entry, interaction withthe GUI (e.g., via a touch display or input device) such as via a menuor icon). The UI controller 202 further provides functionality tocommunicate with a file handler 204.

The file handler 204 provides functionality to communicate with serversystem 102. For example, the file handler 204 can communicate requestsand data to the server system 102, receive responses and data from theserver system 102, and the like. For example, the UI controller 202detects a user input to request a CSV file with data from existingproducts (e.g., data corresponding to curves, such as phase-in andphase-out curves). The UI controller 202 sends the request, and anyassociated data, to the file handler 204. The file handler 204 calls thebackend curve handler (in this example), by communicating with thebackend controller 124 of the server system 102. The backend controller124 of FIG. 2 corresponds to the dynamic file generation system 124 ofFIG. 1 and is thus labeled using the same reference number.

The backend controller 124 receives the request for the CSV file and anyassociated data. In the example where the request is for curve data forexisting products, the backend controller 124 determines a maximumnumber of data points for all phase-in and phase-out curves, analyzesthe business data and creates a dynamic CSV file based on the businessdata currently in the system. Analyzing the business data may compriserequested fields which can be user requested fields such as filtervalues (e.g., specific products, specified region, specified productstatus), type of download data, parameters (e.g., separator), type ofdownload data (e.g., curves, including table content).

Analyzing the business data may also comprise dynamic comparison withrequested paging. For example, a UI may only display a specified numberof values at a time (e.g., 20) and then when scrolling down, the next 20results are shown. When generating a CSV file, the backend controller124 generates the file for all fields (e.g., 54), and not just the first20 values. Analyzing the business data may also comprise addingadditional data to ensure consistency. For example, more information(e.g., technical information, administrative data) may be included inthe CSV file than what is displayed in the UI.

The backend controller 124 sends the CSV file to the client device 110in response to the request. The file handler 204 receives the requestand provides the CSV file to the UI controller 202. The user can thenaccess and view the CSV file via a GUI generated by the UI controller202. Further details of the process are described below with respect toFIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating aspects of a method 300 for dynamicfile generation, according to some example embodiments. For illustrativepurposes, method 300 is described with respect to the networked system100 of FIG. 1 and sequence diagram of FIG. 2. It is to be understoodthat method 300 may be practiced with other system configurations inother embodiments.

In operation 302, a computing system (e.g., server system 102 or dynamicfile generation system 124) receives, from a computing device (e.g.,client device 110 or via third-party server 130), a request forhistorical data (e.g., forecasting data) for existing products. Forexample, a user may want to request data for existing products to usefor a new product introduction. In one example, the request includes anindication of one or more products of a plurality of existing products.In one example the indication is a planning area, as described below. Inanother example, the indication is a list of specified products, as alsodescribed below. Accordingly, the request can comprise identification ofa plurality of existing products, and in one embodiment, theidentification of the plurality of existing products can be based on anindication of a planning area (e.g., a selection or entry of a planningarea).

In one example embodiment, the computing system causes a GUI to displayon the computing device that allows a user to request the historicaldata for existing products. FIG. 4 illustrates an example GUI 400 forrequesting a file comprising historical data for existing products to beused for forecasting data (for example) for a new product. The GUI 400has several input fields 402-410 to allow a user to specify thehistorical data desired. For example, input field 402 allows a user toselect or input a planning area. A planning area is a defined subset ofproducts, for example by product type or product line. For example, aplanning area can be a product type or category, such as shampoo,yogurt, cars, TVs, computer monitors, and so forth. A product line canbe a particular line of product, such as a high-end line of computermonitors, a particular type of tablet or laptop, and so forth,indicating a generation of a particular product line.

Input field 404 allows a user to input a particular product identifier(ID), for example, the product ID for the new product. Input field 406allows a user to input one or more specific reference product IDs, suchas, for example, specific products that are determined to be similar tothe new product.

Input field 408 allows a user to specify a status for the referenceproduct or products in the planning area (e.g., active or inactive), andinput field 410 allows a user to specify a geographical region (e.g.,Asia, Europe, North America). In other examples, the user can also entera weight for each product, a valid-to date, a valid-from date, and anyoffset of days in the past (not shown).

In this example, the user has entered WDFSAP6PRO as the planning areaand has not provided any further input (e.g., filters via input fields404-410). Thus, the computing system causes all the products in theplanning area WDFSAP6PRO to be displayed in a list 412 in the GUI 400 onthe computing device. The user can then select to download a file withhistorical data for the products in the list 412. In response, thecomputing device causes a GUI to display, such as the example GUI 500 ofFIG. 5.

The GUI 500 includes an input field 502 for inputting or selecting aseparator (e.g., semicolon, colon, comma, or another separator) for thefile that will be generated. In one example, the file that will begenerated is a comma-separated values (CSV) file. It is to be understoodthat any file standard can be generated. For example, any text file withseparators to distinguish values in the file can be generated.

The GUI 500 further includes an input field 504 for inputting orselecting a type of data that the user desires to download. In thisexample, the selection includes three types of data: productsassignments (e.g., data for specified reference products), forecastdates (e.g., launch curve start and end dates defining start and endpoints of a phase-in and phase-out process), and curves (e.g., phase-inand phase-out curves).

The GUI 500 further includes an input field 506 for the user to selectto download the CSV file. The computing device sends a request to thecomputing system (e.g., server system 102 or dynamic file generationsystem 124) to request the historical data for existing products, andthe computing system receives the request, as explained above.

In one example, the user selects/requests to download data related tocurves (e.g., forecasting curves such as phase-in and phase-out curves).Returning to FIG. 3, in operation 304, the computing system accessesdata for a plurality of existing curves corresponding to the pluralityof existing products. For example, the computing system accesses one ormore data stores (e.g., database(s) 126, a data store associated withthird-party server 130) to access the data for the plurality of existingcurves corresponding to the plurality of existing products. As explainedabove, the existing products may be all products in a planning area, oruser-specified products. In one example embodiment, the plurality ofexisting curves each comprise at least one value corresponding toplanning data for a respective existing product.

To generate the requested file (e.g., CSV file) the computing systemdetermines whether there are any curves of the plurality of existingcurves that comprise a plurality of values (e.g., whether any of theplurality of curves comprises more than one value corresponding torespective planning data for the respective existing product). Forexample, there may be many types of curves included in the data for theexisting products. For example, one type of curve may be a linearfunction (e.g., starting by 10% and ending by 80%) that does not haveany specific values. In another example, the type of curve may be aflexible curve in which a number of values are stored. If the computingsystem determines that there are one or more curves that comprise aplurality of values, the computing system will have to do furtheranalysis to generate the requested file. If, however, the data onlycomprises linear or other functions that do not comprise any values, thecomputing system does not have to do further analysis and can insteadsimply extract the data for the curves and populate the requested filewith the extracted data.

In operation 306, the computing system determines that at least one or asubset of curves of the plurality of curves comprises a plurality ofvalues (e.g., at least a subset of curves comprise more than one valuecorresponding to the respective planning data for the respectiveexisting product). Based on this determination, the computing systemdetermines a maximum number of values among all curves comprising aplurality of values, in operation 306. For example, there may be 40flexible curves or other curves with a number of values stored for eachcurve. The computing system analyzes the data for each curve to computea number of values for each curve. For example, a first curve maycomprise 15 values (or data points) for the curve, a second curve maycomprise 29 values, a third curve may comprise 8 values, a fourth curvemay comprise 45 values, and so forth. The computing system determinesthe curve with the maximum values (e.g., 45 in the example above). Thecomputing system then uses the number of values (e.g., 45) as themaximum number among all curves. The computing system can then set themaximum number of value columns for the requested file to the maximumnumber among all curves (e.g., 45).

In operation 308, the computing system generates a file (e.g., a textfile) comprising a maximum number of value columns corresponding to themaximum number of values. The file can have more columns depending onother predefined values for the file, such as a name of curve, a curvetype, a start value, an end value, a function, and so forth.Accordingly, the computing system knows how many columns total need tobe created for the file based on the predefined columns and theidentified number of value columns.

In operation 310, the computing device populates the file with the datafor the plurality of existing curves, including the plurality of valuesfor each curve of the curves with values. For example, the computingsystem extracts data for each curve and populates the predefined andvalue columns (if applicable) with the extracted data. For instance, thecomputing system populates the text file with the data of the subset ofcurves including the at least one value corresponding to the respectiveplanning data for the respective existing product, for each curve of thesubset of curves.

The computing device can provide the populated file to the requestingcomputing device, in operation 312. The computing device causes adisplayable version of the populated file to be displayed on a displayof the computing device. For example, a user can use any standardapplication, such as Excel, to open the populated file (e.g., CSV file)to display the data of the populated file. FIG. 6 illustrates an exampleGUI 600 that displays the data related to curves for existing productsin a specified planning area. The GUI 600 displays a number of columns602. For example, a NAME column indicating the name of each curve, aCURVETYPE column indicating the type of curve (e.g., 1=PhaseInCurve,2=PhaseOutCurve), a STARTVALUE column indicating the start value for thecurve, an ENDVALUE column indicating the end value for the curve, aFUNCTION indicating a function for the curve, a NUMBEROFPERIODSindicating the length of a curve that can be downloaded, and then anumber of values columns (e.g., VALUE1, VALUE2, VALUE3, VALUE4) toinclude the values for the curves with values.

The GUI 600 further displays a number of rows 604, each row indicating adifferent curve. The example populated file shown in FIG. 6 has beenshortened to fit in a page and so all the value columns and all theactual rows are not shown. The number of value columns corresponds tothe maximum number of values of all curves with values (e.g., flexiblecurves), as explained above.

The GUI 600 enables editing of the populated text file. For example, auser can make edits to the text in the GUI 600 (e.g., editing a numbervalue, editing a name of a function), add one or more new curves, and soforth. The user can then save the populated file as forecast data forthe new product. The computing device may send the updated populatedfile (or original populated file if no changes are made) to thecomputing system. The computing system receives the edits made to thefile (or updated or original file) and saves the file as forecastingdata for the new product. In another example, the updated or originalpopulated file is saved to the computing device or other computingsystem.

As explained above, a user can also request to download productassignments (e.g., data for specified reference products), as explainedabove with respect to FIG. 5. FIG. 7 illustrates an example GUI 700 thata computing device causes to display on a display of the computingdevice.

The GUI 700 includes an input field 702 for inputting or selecting aseparator (e.g., semicolon, colon, comma, or another separator) for thefile that will be generated, as described above. The GUI 700 furtherincludes an input field 704 for inputting or selecting a type of datathat the user desires to download. In this example, the GUI 700indicates that the user selects products assignments (e.g., data forspecified reference products). The GUI 700 further includes an inputfield 708 for a user to select to include table contents and an inputfield 706 for the user to select to download the CSV file. The computingdevice sends a request to the computing system (e.g., server system 102or dynamic file generation system 124) to request the historical datafor existing products and the computing system receives the request, asexplained above.

The computing system receives the request for existing product data touse for the new product introduction (e.g., reference existing productdata). The request may include an indication of a plurality of existingproducts (e.g., a planning area or specified products), as explainedabove. The request may also include at least one of a weight, a startdate, and an end date for each existing product of the plurality ofexisting products. In one example, the weight corresponds to a percentof sales of the existing product that can be used for the new product(e.g., 80% of sales for product two will be used for product one). Theoffset corresponds to the timing of the data. For example, the user maynot want user data for the current year for an existing product, butinstead user data for the year before. Thus, the user can specify a365-day offset, for example. The start date and end date correspond to avalid-from and valid-to date for the data.

The computing system accesses data corresponding to the plurality ofexisting products. For example, the computing system accesses one ormore data stores (e.g., database(s) 126, a data store associated withthird-party server 130) to access the data for the plurality of existingcurves corresponding to the plurality of existing products. As explainedabove, the existing products may be all products in a planning area, oruser-specified products.

The computing system extracts, for each existing product, reference datafor the plurality of existing products, based on any specified weight,start date, and end date. The computing system generates a text file forthe reference data and populates the generated text file with thereference data and any specified weight, start date, and end date. Thecomputing system provides the populated text file to the computingdevice, as also explained above.

The computing device causes a displayable version of the populated fileto be displayed on a display of the computing device. For example, asexplained above, a user can use any standard application, such as Excel,to open the populated file (e.g., CSV file) to display the data of thepopulated file. FIG. 8 illustrates an example GUI 800 that displays thedata related to existing products 804 in a specified planning area. TheGUI 800 displays a number of columns 802. For example, a PRODUCT columnindicating a product name or identifier, a DIMENSTIONS2 and DIMENSIONS3column indicating a product dimension (e.g., product assignments can bedone on a product level or on a product dimension level (e.g., productdimension 1 level, product dimension 3 level) and users can configure anassignment level per planning area according to the need, aREFERENCE_PRODUCT column indicating a reference product corresponding tothe new product, a WEIGHT column indicating a weight for the product, aPERIOD_OFFSET column indicating an period offset, an IS_ACTIVE columnindicating whether the assignment of the reference to the new product isactive or inactive, and a start date and an end date column indicatingstarting and ending dates.

The following examples describe various embodiments of methods,machine-readable media, and systems (e.g., machines, devices, or otherapparatus) discussed herein.

Example 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a request from a first computing device for forecasting datato use for a new product introduction, the request comprisingidentification of a plurality of existing products;

accessing data for a plurality of existing curves corresponding to theplurality of existing products, each existing curve of the plurality ofexisting curves comprising at least one value corresponding to planningdata for a respective existing product;

determining whether any curve of the plurality of existing curvescomprises more than one value corresponding to respective planning datafor the respective existing product;

based on determining that at least a subset of curves of the pluralityof curves comprises more than one value corresponding to the respectiveplanning data for the respective existing product, analyzing each valuefor each curve of the subset of curves to determine a maximum number ofvalues among all of the curves of the subset of curves;

generating a text file comprising a maximum number of value columnscorresponding to the maximum number of values;

populating the text file with the data for the subset of curves of theplurality of existing curves, including the at least one valuecorresponding to the respective planning data for the respectiveexisting product, for each curve of the subset of curves; and

providing the populated text file to the first computing device.

Example 2. A computer-implemented method according to Example 1, whereinthe populated text file is displayed on a display of the first computingdevice.Example 3. A computer-implemented method according to any of theprevious examples, wherein the display of the first computing devicecomprises a graphical user interface enabling editing of the populatedtext file.Example 4. A computer-implemented method according to any of theprevious examples, further comprising:

receiving, from the first computing device, edits made to the text file;

saving the text file in a data store as forecasting data for the newproduct.

Example 5. A computer-implemented method according to any of theprevious examples, wherein the edits comprise changes made to one ormore values of the plurality of values in the subset of curves.Example 6. A computer-implemented method according to any of theprevious examples, wherein the edits comprise addition of at least onenew curve to the plurality of existing curves.Example 7. A computer-implemented method according to any of theprevious examples, further comprising:

receiving a second request from the first computing device for referenceexisting product data to use for the new product introduction, thesecond request comprising an indication of a plurality of existingproducts and at least one of a weight, a start date, and an end date foreach existing product of the plurality of existing products;

accessing the data for the plurality of existing products;

extracting, for each existing product, reference data from the data forthe plurality of existing products, based on a specified weight, startdate, and end date;

generating a text file for the reference data and populating thegenerated text file with the reference data and any specified weight,start date, and end date; and

providing the populated text file to the first computing device.

Example 8. A computer-implemented method according to any of theprevious examples, wherein the populated text file is a characterseparated text file.Example 9. A computer-implemented method according to any of theprevious examples, wherein the character is a comma, a semi-colon, or acolon.Example 10. A system comprising:

a memory that stores instructions; and

one or more processors configured by the instructions to performoperations comprising:

receiving a request from a first computing device for forecasting datato use for a new product introduction, the request comprisingidentification of a plurality of existing products;

accessing data for a plurality of existing curves corresponding to theplurality of existing products, each existing curve of the plurality ofexisting curves comprising at least one value corresponding to planningdata for a respective existing product;

determining whether any curve of the plurality of existing curvescomprises more than one value corresponding to respective planning datafor the respective existing product;

based on determining that at least a subset of curves of the pluralityof curves comprises more than one value corresponding to the respectiveplanning data for the respective existing product, analyzing each valuefor each curve of the subset of curves to determine a maximum number ofvalues among all of the curves of the subset of curves;

generating a text file comprising a maximum number of value columnscorresponding to the maximum number of values;

populating the text file with the data for the subset of curves of theplurality of existing curves, including the at least one valuecorresponding to the respective planning data for the respectiveexisting product, for each curve of the subset of curves; and

providing the populated text file to the first computing device.

Example 11. A system according to any of the previous examples, whereinthe populated text file is displayed on a display of the first computingdevice.Example 12. A system according to any of the previous examples, whereinthe display of the first computing device comprises a graphical userinterface enabling editing of the populated text file.Example 13. A system according to any of the previous examples, theoperations further comprising:

receiving, from the first computing device, edits made to the text file;

saving the text file in a data store as forecasting data for the newproduct.

Example 14. A system according to any of the previous examples, whereinthe edits comprise changes made to one or more values of the pluralityof values in the subset of curves.Example 15. A system according to any of the previous examples, whereinthe edits comprise addition of at least one new curve to the pluralityof existing curves.Example 16. A system according to any of the previous examples, theoperations further comprising:

receiving a second request from the first computing device for referenceexisting product data to use for the new product introduction, thesecond request comprising an indication of a plurality of existingproducts and at least one of a weight, a start date, and an end date foreach existing product of the plurality of existing products;

accessing the data for the plurality of existing products;

extracting, for each existing product, reference data from the data forthe plurality of existing products, based on a specified weight, startdate, and end date;

generating a text file for the reference data and populating thegenerated text file with the reference data and any specified weight,start date, and end date; and

providing the populated text file to the first computing device.

Example 17. A system according to any of the previous examples, whereinthe populated text file is a character separated text file.Example 18. A system according to any of the previous examples, whereinthe character is a comma, a semi-colon, or a colon.Example 19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprisinginstructions stored thereon that are executable by at least oneprocessor to cause a computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving a request from a first computing device for forecasting datato use for a new product introduction, the request comprisingidentification of a plurality of existing products;

accessing data for a plurality of existing curves corresponding to theplurality of existing products, each existing curve of the plurality ofexisting curves comprising at least one value corresponding to planningdata for a respective existing product;

determining whether any curve of the plurality of existing curvescomprises more than one value corresponding to respective planning datafor the respective existing product;

based on determining that at least a subset of curves of the pluralityof curves comprises more than one value corresponding to the respectiveplanning data for the respective existing product, analyzing each valuefor each curve of the subset of curves to determine a maximum number ofvalues among all of the curves of the subset of curves;

generating a text file comprising a maximum number of value columnscorresponding to the maximum number of values;

populating the text file with the data for the subset of curves of theplurality of existing curves, including the at least one valuecorresponding to the respective planning data for the respectiveexisting product, for each curve of the subset of curves; and

providing the populated text file to the first computing device.

Example 20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to anyof the previous examples, the operations further comprising:

receiving a second request from the first computing device for referenceexisting product data to use for the new product introduction, thesecond request comprising an indication of a plurality of existingproducts and at least one of a weight, a start date, and an end date foreach existing product of the plurality of existing products;

accessing the data for the plurality of existing products;

extracting, for each existing product, reference data from the data forthe plurality of existing products, based on a specified weight, startdate, and end date;

generating a text file for the reference data and populating thegenerated text file with the reference data and any specified weight,start date, and end date; and providing the populated text file to thefirst computing device.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram 900 illustrating software architecture 902,which can be installed on any one or more of the devices describedabove. For example, in various embodiments, client devices 110 andservers and systems 130, 102, 120, 122, and 124 may be implemented usingsome or all of the elements of software architecture 902. FIG. 9 ismerely a non-limiting example of a software architecture, and it will beappreciated that many other architectures can be implemented tofacilitate the functionality described herein. In various embodiments,the software architecture 902 is implemented by hardware such as machine1000 of FIG. 10 that includes processors 1010, memory 1030, and I/Ocomponents 1050. In this example, the software architecture 902 can beconceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer may provide aparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 902includes layers such as an operating system 904, libraries 906,frameworks 908, and applications 910. Operationally, the applications910 invoke application programming interface (API) calls 912 through thesoftware stack and receive messages 914 in response to the API calls912, consistent with some embodiments.

In various implementations, the operating system 904 manages hardwareresources and provides common services. The operating system 904includes, for example, a kernel 920, services 922, and drivers 924. Thekernel 920 acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware and theother software layers, consistent with some embodiments. For example,the kernel 920 provides memory management, processor management (e.g.,scheduling), component management, networking, and security settings,among other functionality. The services 922 can provide other commonservices for the other software layers. The drivers 924 are responsiblefor controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware, accordingto some embodiments. For instance, the drivers 924 can include displaydrivers, camera drivers, BLUETOOTH® or BLUETOOTH® Low Energy drivers,flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers (e.g., UniversalSerial Bus (USB) drivers), WI-FI® drivers, audio drivers, powermanagement drivers, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the libraries 906 provide a low-level commoninfrastructure utilized by the applications 910. The libraries 906 caninclude system libraries 930 (e.g., C standard library) that can providefunctions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulationfunctions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition, thelibraries 906 can include API libraries 932 such as media libraries(e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of variousmedia formats such as Moving Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4), AdvancedVideo Coding (H.264 or AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 (MP3),Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) audio codec,Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG or JPG), or Portable NetworkGraphics (PNG)), graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework used torender in two dimensions (2D) and in three dimensions (3D) graphiccontent on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite to providevarious relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit toprovide web browsing functionality), and the like. The libraries 906 canalso include a wide variety of other libraries 934 to provide many otherAPIs to the applications 910.

The frameworks 908 provide a high-level common infrastructure that canbe utilized by the applications 910, according to some embodiments. Forexample, the frameworks 908 provide various graphic user interface (GUI)functions, high-level resource management, high-level location services,and so forth. The frameworks 908 can provide a broad spectrum of otherAPIs that can be utilized by the applications 910, some of which may bespecific to a particular operating system 904 or platform.

In an example embodiment, the applications 910 include a homeapplication 950, a contacts application 952, a browser application 954,a book reader application 956, a location application 958, a mediaapplication 960, a messaging application 962, a game application 964,and a broad assortment of other applications, such as a third-partyapplication 966. According to some embodiments, the applications 910 areprograms that execute functions defined in the programs. Variousprogramming languages can be employed to create one or more of theapplications 910, structured in a variety of manners, such asobject-oriented programming languages (e.g., Objective-C, Java, or C++)or procedural programming languages (e.g., C or assembly language). In aspecific example, the third-party application 966 (e.g., an applicationdeveloped using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) byan entity other than the vendor of the particular platform) may bemobile software running on a mobile operating system such as IOS™,ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or another mobile operating system. In thisexample, the third-party application 966 can invoke the API calls 912provided by the operating system 904 to facilitate functionalitydescribed herein.

Some embodiments may particularly include new product lifecycleapplication 967. In certain embodiments, this may be a stand-aloneapplication that operates to manage communications with a server systemsuch as third-party servers 130 or server system 102. In otherembodiments, this functionality may be integrated with anotherapplication. The new product lifecycle application 967 may request anddisplay various data related to dynamic file generation for new productforecasting and may provide the capability for a user 106 to input datarelated to the objects via a touch interface, keyboard, or using acamera device of machine 1000, communication with a server system viaI/O components 1050, and receipt and storage of object data in memory1030. Presentation of information and user inputs associated with theinformation may be managed by new product lifecycle application 967using different frameworks 908, library 906 elements, or operatingsystem 904 elements operating on a machine 1000.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 1000,according to some embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.Specifically, FIG. 10 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine1000 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions1016 (e.g., software, a program, an application 910, an applet, an app,or other executable code) for causing the machine 1000 to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein can be executed. Inalternative embodiments, the machine 1000 operates as a standalonedevice or can be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In anetworked deployment, the machine 1000 may operate in the capacity of aserver machine 130, 102, 120, 122, 124, etc., or a client device 110 ina server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine 1000 cancomprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a client computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook,a personal digital assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, acellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device(e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance),other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing theinstructions 1016, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to betaken by the machine 1000. Further, while only a single machine 1000 isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include acollection of machines 1000 that individually or jointly execute theinstructions 1016 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

In various embodiments, the machine 1000 comprises processors 1010,memory 1030, and I/O components 1050, which can be configured tocommunicate with each other via a bus 1002. In an example embodiment,the processors 1010 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor,or any suitable combination thereof) include, for example, a processor1012 and a processor 1014 that may execute the instructions 1016. Theterm “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors 1010 thatmay comprise two or more independent processors 1012, 1014 (alsoreferred to as “cores”) that can execute instructions 1016contemporaneously. Although FIG. 10 shows multiple processors 1010, themachine 1000 may include a single processor 1010 with a single core, asingle processor 1010 with multiple cores (e.g., a multi-core processor1010), multiple processors 1012, 1014 with a single core, multipleprocessors 1012, 1014 with multiples cores, or any combination thereof.

The memory 1030 comprises a main memory 1032, a static memory 1034, anda storage unit 1036 accessible to the processors 1010 via the bus 1002,according to some embodiments. The storage unit 1036 can include amachine-readable medium 1038 on which are stored the instructions 1016embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. The instructions 1016 can also reside, completely or at leastpartially, within the main memory 1032, within the static memory 1034,within at least one of the processors 1010 (e.g., within the processor'scache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during executionthereof by the machine 1000. Accordingly, in various embodiments, themain memory 1032, the static memory 1034, and the processors 1010 areconsidered machine-readable media 1038.

As used herein, the term “memory” refers to a machine-readable medium1038 able to store data temporarily or permanently and may be taken toinclude, but not be limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, and cache memory. While themachine-readable medium 1038 is shown, in an example embodiment, to be asingle medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken toinclude a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, or associated caches and servers) able to storethe instructions 1016. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also betaken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, that iscapable of storing instructions (e.g., instructions 1016) for executionby a machine (e.g., machine 1000), such that the instructions 1016, whenexecuted by one or more processors of the machine 1000 (e.g., processors1010), cause the machine 1000 to perform any one or more of themethodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium”refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based”storage systems or storage networks that include multiple storageapparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium” shallaccordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, one or more datarepositories in the form of a solid-state memory (e.g., flash memory),an optical medium, a magnetic medium, other non-volatile memory (e.g.,erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM)), or any suitablecombination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” specificallyexcludes non-statutory signals per se.

The I/O components 1050 include a wide variety of components to receiveinput, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchangeinformation, capture measurements, and so on. In general, it will beappreciated that the I/O components 1050 can include many othercomponents that are not shown in FIG. 10. The I/O components 1050 aregrouped according to functionality merely for simplifying the followingdiscussion, and the grouping is in no way limiting. In various exampleembodiments, the I/O components 1050 include output components 1052 andinput components 1054. The output components 1052 include visualcomponents (e.g., a display such as a plasma display panel (PDP), alight emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), aprojector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g.,speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor), other signalgenerators, and so forth. The input components 1054 include alphanumericinput components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstruments), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and force of touches or touch gestures, orother tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In some further example embodiments, the I/O components 1050 includebiometric components 1056, motion components 1058, environmentalcomponents 1060, or position components 1062, among a wide array ofother components. For example, the biometric components 1056 includecomponents to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 1058 includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environmental components 1060 include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensor components(e.g., machine olfaction detection sensors, gas detection sensors todetect concentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measurepollutants in the atmosphere), or other components that may provideindications, measurements, or signals corresponding to a surroundingphysical environment. The position components 1062 include locationsensor components (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receivercomponent), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometersthat detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication can be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 1050 may include communication components 1064operable to couple the machine 1000 to a network 1080 or devices 1070via a coupling 1082 and a coupling 1072, respectively. For example, thecommunication components 1064 include a network interface component oranother suitable device to interface with the network 1080. In furtherexamples, communication components 1064 include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, near field communication (NFC) components, BLUETOOTH®components (e.g., BLUETOOTH® Low Energy), WI-FI® components, and othercommunication components to provide communication via other modalities.The devices 1070 may be another machine 1000 or any of a wide variety ofperipheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a UniversalSerial Bus (USB)).

Moreover, in some embodiments, the communication components 1064 detectidentifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. Forexample, the communication components 1064 include radio frequencyidentification (RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detectioncomponents, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detecta one-dimensional bar codes such as a Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode, multi-dimensional bar codes such as a Quick Response (QR) code,Aztec Code, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code,Uniform Commercial Code Reduced Space Symbology (UCC RSS)-2D bar codes,and other optical codes), acoustic detection components (e.g.,microphones to identify tagged audio signals), or any suitablecombination thereof. In addition, a variety of information can bederived via the communication components 1064, such as location viaInternet Protocol (IP) geo-location, location via WI-FI® signaltriangulation, location via detecting a BLUETOOTH® or NFC beacon signalthat may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the network 1080can be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS)network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a WI-FI®network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more suchnetworks. For example, the network 1080 or a portion of the network 1080may include a wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 1082 may bea Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System forMobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellular orwireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 1082 can implement anyof a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as SingleCarrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized(EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology,Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, thirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generationwireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, othersdefined by various standard-setting organizations, other long rangeprotocols, or other data transfer technology.

In example embodiments, the instructions 1016 are transmitted orreceived over the network 1080 using a transmission medium via a networkinterface device (e.g., a network interface component included in thecommunication components 1064) and utilizing any one of a number ofwell-known transfer protocols (e.g., Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP)). Similarly, in other example embodiments, the instructions 1016are transmitted or received using a transmission medium via the coupling1072 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 1070. The term“transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible mediumthat is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying the instructions 1016for execution by the machine 1000, and includes digital or analogcommunications signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software.

Furthermore, the machine-readable medium 1038 is non-transitory (inother words, not having any transitory signals) in that it does notembody a propagating signal. However, labeling the machine-readablemedium 1038 “non-transitory” should not be construed to mean that themedium is incapable of movement; the medium 1038 should be considered asbeing transportable from one physical location to another. Additionally,since the machine-readable medium 1038 is tangible, the medium 1038 maybe considered to be a machine-readable device.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Although an overview of the inventive subject matter has been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, various modificationsand changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader scope of embodiments of the present disclosure

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, modules, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presentedas separate resources in the example configurations may be implementedas a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures andfunctionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of thepresent disclosure as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:receiving a request from a first computing device for forecasting datato use for a new product introduction, the request comprisingidentification of a plurality of existing products; accessing data for aplurality of existing curves corresponding to the plurality of existingproducts, each existing curve of the plurality of existing curvescomprising at least one value corresponding to planning data for arespective existing product; determining whether any curve of theplurality of existing curves comprises more than one value correspondingto respective planning data for the respective existing product; basedon determining that at least a subset of curves of the plurality ofcurves comprises more than one value corresponding to the respectiveplanning data for the respective existing product, analyzing each valuefor each curve of the subset of curves to determine a maximum number ofvalues among all of the curves of the subset of curves; generating atext file comprising a maximum number of value columns corresponding tothe maximum number of values; populating the text file with the data forthe subset of curves of the plurality of existing curves, including theat least one value corresponding to the respective planning data for therespective existing product, for each curve of the subset of curves; andproviding the populated text file to the first computing device.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the populated text fileis displayed on a display of the first computing device.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the display of the firstcomputing device comprises a graphical user interface enabling editingof the populated text file.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim3, further comprising: receiving, from the first computing device, editsmade to the text file; saving the text file in a data store asforecasting data for the new product.
 5. The computer-implemented methodof claim 4, wherein the edits comprise changes made to one or morevalues of the plurality of values in the subset of curves.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the edits compriseaddition of at least one new curve to the plurality of existing curves.7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a second request from the first computing device for referenceexisting product data to use for the new product introduction, thesecond request comprising an indication of a plurality of existingproducts and at least one of a weight, a start date, and an end date foreach existing product of the plurality of existing products; accessingthe data for the plurality of existing products; extracting, for eachexisting product, reference data from the data for the plurality ofexisting products, based on a specified weight, start date, and enddate; generating a text file for the reference data and populating thegenerated text file with the reference data and any specified weight,start date, and end date; and providing the populated text file to thefirst computing device.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the populated text file is a character separated text file. 9.The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the character is acomma, a semi-colon, or a colon.
 10. A system comprising: a memory thatstores instructions; and one or more processors configured by theinstructions to perform operations comprising: receiving a request froma first computing device for forecasting data to use for a new productintroduction, the request comprising identification of a plurality ofexisting products; accessing data for a plurality of existing curvescorresponding to the plurality of existing products, each existing curveof the plurality of existing curves comprising at least one valuecorresponding to planning data for a respective existing product;determining whether any curve of the plurality of existing curvescomprises more than one value corresponding to respective planning datafor the respective existing product; based on determining that at leasta subset of curves of the plurality of curves comprises more than onevalue corresponding to the respective planning data for the respectiveexisting product, analyzing each value for each curve of the subset ofcurves to determine a maximum number of values among all of the curvesof the subset of curves; generating a text file comprising a maximumnumber of value columns corresponding to the maximum number of values;populating the text file with the data for the subset of curves of theplurality of existing curves, including the at least one valuecorresponding to the respective planning data for the respectiveexisting product, for each curve of the subset of curves; and providingthe populated text file to the first computing device.
 11. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the populated text file is displayed on a display ofthe first computing device.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein thedisplay of the first computing device comprises a graphical userinterface enabling editing of the populated text file.
 13. The system ofclaim 12, the operations further comprising: receiving, from the firstcomputing device, edits made to the text file; saving the text file in adata store as forecasting data for the new product.
 14. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the edits comprise changes made to one or more valuesof the plurality of values in the subset of curves.
 15. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the edits comprise addition of at least one new curveto the plurality of existing curves.
 16. The system of claim 10, theoperations further comprising: receiving a second request from the firstcomputing device for reference existing product data to use for the newproduct introduction, the second request comprising an indication of aplurality of existing products and at least one of a weight, a startdate, and an end date for each existing product of the plurality ofexisting products; accessing the data for the plurality of existingproducts; extracting, for each existing product, reference data from thedata for the plurality of existing products, based on a specifiedweight, start date, and end date; generating a text file for thereference data and populating the generated text file with the referencedata and any specified weight, start date, and end date; and providingthe populated text file to the first computing device.
 17. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the populated text file is a character separated textfile.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the character is a comma, asemi-colon, or a colon.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumcomprising instructions stored thereon that are executable by at leastone processor to cause a computing device to perform operationscomprising: receiving a request from a first computing device forforecasting data to use for a new product introduction, the requestcomprising identification of a plurality of existing products; accessingdata for a plurality of existing curves corresponding to the pluralityof existing products, each existing curve of the plurality of existingcurves comprising at least one value corresponding to planning data fora respective existing product; determining whether any curve of theplurality of existing curves comprises more than one value correspondingto respective planning data for the respective existing product; basedon determining that at least a subset of curves of the plurality ofcurves comprises more than one value corresponding to the respectiveplanning data for the respective existing product, analyzing each valuefor each curve of the subset of curves to determine a maximum number ofvalues among all of the curves of the subset of curves; generating atext file comprising a maximum number of value columns corresponding tothe maximum number of values; populating the text file with the data forthe subset of curves of the plurality of existing curves, including theat least one value corresponding to the respective planning data for therespective existing product, for each curve of the subset of curves; andproviding the populated text file to the first computing device.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, the operationsfurther comprising: receiving a second request from the first computingdevice for reference existing product data to use for the new productintroduction, the second request comprising an indication of a pluralityof existing products and at least one of a weight, a start date, and anend date for each existing product of the plurality of existingproducts; accessing the data for the plurality of existing products;extracting, for each existing product, reference data from the data forthe plurality of existing products, based on a specified weight, startdate, and end date; generating a text file for the reference data andpopulating the generated text file with the reference data and anyspecified weight, start date, and end date; and providing the populatedtext file to the first computing device.